Charles w



Patented Jan. 16, 1894.

(No Model.)

C. W. HUNT. BXCAVATING B UGKET.

THE NAYIDNAL LnHosmHlNa coMPANv.

vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W, HUNT, OF WEST NEIV BRIGHTON, NEW YORK.

l EXCAVATING-BUCKEIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 512,828, dated January 16, 1894.

Application tiled September 21,1893. Serial No. 486,124- (No model.)

To a/Z/ whom it may concern:

.le it knownA that I, CHARLES W. HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at West New Brighton, in the county ofA Richmond and State of New York, have invented an Improvementin Excavating Buckets, of which the following is a specification. v

In dredging machinery,buckets have beenemployed, made in two parts and hinged together, and these buckets have sometimes been provided with projecting teeth for engaging piles or wood-work to pull up or destroy the same; and the bucket itself in which sand, mud or similar material is excavated, has usuallly been made of two quarter cylin-` drlcal segments, the bottom edges of which have been brought into contact as the bucket was closed, but in consequence of the severe work and strain upon the parts `of the excavatlng apparatus, it is very difficult to bring the stralght bottom edges of the bucket closely together, and frequently the mud or other material will run lout from within one end of the bucket, while the edges of the bucket are closely together at the other end of the bucket,

thus lessening the excavating power of the bucket and causing considerable annoyance, and when the bucket becomes bent in this manner it is very difficult to straighten the same, and with loose materials, the presence ofa piece of wood within one end of the bucket, or a stone or other obstruction will prevent the bucket closing tightly and some of the contents ot'- the bucket will run out. Besides this the power exerted in closingA the bucket is usually considerably greater near the end of the closing operation than it is in the commencement; this partially results from the sand or mud being more compact, and also from the materials packing or hard@ ening between the edges as they come directly together.

My present invention is intended for obviating. the before mentioned difficult-ies, and consists in an excavating bucket the lower edges ofwhich are made to lap past each other, so as etfectually to close the opening between the two buckets regardless of any roughness or inequality in the edges of the buckets and at the same time the edges of these buckets act in a manner similar to a pair of shears to separate the materials that are to be hoisted and there is but little risk of a stone or similar obstruction being caught between the two parts of the bucket. The edges of the bucket do not act to pack the material, because one edge is moving in a different plane from the other and they go freely past one another. During the hoisting operation there is a constant tendency for the vweight'to open the bucket, but with the presentk improvement the resistance invcutting ceases and is done away with as soon as the .these pivots are usually upon a frame C, and

such frame C usually carries a shaft and drum E to which'the hoisting chain F is connected, and the smaller drums G are connccted by chains H to the c ross piece D so as to open the bucket by drawing upon the chain, D or cross piece D or to close the bucket bydrawing upon the chain passing around the drum. These ldevices thus Afar described are well known and may be of any desired character,

In place of having the edge: of the bucket A come up against the edge 5 of the bucket B, I have the edge 4: to pass over and closely. adjacent to the edge 5, the distance between the edge 4 and the pivot oraxis of motion being less than the distance between its pivot or axis 'and the edge 5. For this reason the edge t of the bucket A can be made to pass' such edges will separate any substance that is easily cut or broken, and the bucket will close so that mud, sand or similarmaterial will not run through between the two parts of the bucket in consequence of the parts having become twisted, notched, rough or IOO bent. The lapping of one bucket upon the other is notlikely to be interferedfwith, even though the edges 4 and 5 may not be parallel with each other. Hence the risk of a portion of the contents of the bucket running out as the bucket is elevated, is reduced to a minimum, andthe bucket is rendered much `more eective because less liable to be obstructed by foreign substances in the closing of the two parts of the bucket, and the hoisting rope or chain is free from the strain connected with the closing ofthe bucket.

I claimas my invention- In an excavating apparatus, the two parts or shells having the edge 5, of the bucket B,

below the edge 4 of the bucket A, so that in closing, the one edge passes above the other and the one bucket laps upon the other and the edges pass beyond the cutting point, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 18th day of September, 

